Anti-Coup Alliance calls for uprising on anniversary of Morsi ouster

A woman holds a portrait of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi as at rally in Rabaa Al Adaawyia mosque on 4 July in Cairo.(AFP File Photo)

The Anti-Coup Alliance, a large pro-Morsi opposition bloc, called Friday for another uprising on 3 July, the one year anniversary of the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohamed Morsi, calling for “democracy to dawn once again in this homeland”.

The alliance, which rejects the legitimacy of the Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi led government, noted what the group called “treachery” and “absence of vision” as well as “the Zionist-American alliance and the treacherous Western democracy”.

The statement explains that continued indifference towards the people’s desire by the government will only stir up another revolutionary wave.

“Revolutionary Egypt will not tolerate the horrific abuses committed in prisons against innocent women and girls. It will strive to secure their freedom. Egypt’s honour is at stake. This will lead to an unstoppable eruption of popular wrath.”

The statement also vows that peaceful protesters will make an example of their opposition to what it calls “coup terror”.

“The patriotic people of Egypt believe in one destiny and are determined to close ranks and unite in their confrontation of coup terror. They are setting off alarm bells for all the Arab people in the whole region so they would continue to get more ready, more organised, and amass to vigorously crush falsehood on 3 July 2014, in a huge popular revolt with a stunning surprise for all.”

The Anti-Coup Alliance issues near-weekly calls for weeks of protest under various revolutionary slogans. This week’s protests are organised under the slogan “Freedom for Egypt”. The Alliance is urging protesters to “raise the flags of Egypt, the Rabaa defiance symbol of steadfastness, photos of women and girls unjustly held in coup prisons and photos of Egypt’s legitimate President Mohamed Morsi.”

The alliance is also calling for near-constant protests during the holy month of Ramadan to take place under the banner of “Populate mosques, fill the streets and boycott the falsehood”.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which backed Mohamed Morsi for president in the 2012 elections, was declared a terrorist organisation on 24 December 2013. Members of the Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party as well as protesters have been imprisoned by the thousands since Morsi’s 3 July ouster.

Independent monitoring group Wiki Thawra announced that over 41,000 people had been arrested or charged in the months following the ouster.